Leading Industry Analyst Predicts Worldwide Hand-Carried Ultrasound Market to Top $1 Billion by 2011

NEW YORK, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The first in-depth market study dedicated to the hand-carried ultrasound (HCU) market predicts worldwide revenues will exceed one billion dollars (USD) by 2011. The report, issued by industry leading analyst Harvey Klein, Ph.D., president of Klein Biomedical Consultants, Inc., projects the HCU market leaders will be GE Medical Systems, SonoSite and ZONARE Medical Systems by 2009. The HCU market is considered the fastest growing segment in the multi-billion dollar ultrasound market which is now exceeds four billion dollars worldwide, according to Klein.

"The HCU market is outpacing all other ultrasound segments growing 41 percent last year in the U.S. alone," said Klein. "We are predicting robust growth of HCU sales over the next five years, averaging 22 percent worldwide, as significant advances in technology address a growing array of clinical imaging needs. We expect GE, SonoSite and ZONARE to be the main market leaders in this rapidly emerging market."

The report, The Hand-Carried Ultrasound ("HCU") Market: A Disruptive Technology?, analyzes growth in the U.S. and international markets with the U.S. accounting for about half of sales revenues. The U.S. HCU market size in 2006 was $198 million, 41 percent growth over 2005. International markets accounted for $199 million, also 41 percent growth, during the same time period. Overall, worldwide revenues for all ultrasound segments grew six percent in 2006.

"In 2006, the industry witnessed the largest number of HCU products introduced in a single year," said Klein. "Coupled with the revenue growth from previous products on the market, worldwide HCU revenues reached almost $400 million for the year."

For purposes of the report, hand-carried ultrasound systems are considered to weigh less than 11 pounds. Included in this category are products from Bard, GE, Medison, SonoSite, Terason and others. Also included was the ZONARE z.one system, which is categorized as a convertible system, since it has a full cart and a scan engine that can be separated from the cart and used as a hand-carried device.

"The largest markets for HCU systems are some of the traditional ultrasound markets such as radiology, cardiology, OB/GYN and surgery," said Klein. "Now we are seeing other emerging markets, like emergency medicine and anesthesiology, expanding their use of this imaging modality. This is why we believe the HCU market will continue to grow in double digits and reach over one billion dollars in five years."

About Klein Biomedical Consultants, Inc.

Klein Biomedical Consultants (KBC) is a strategic marketing consulting firm specializing in the medical diagnostic imaging field. KBC has provided marketing and technical guidance to well over 100 corporations over its twenty-five year history. It is recognized as an authority on the medical diagnostic ultrasound industry. KBC is known for its series of comprehensive multi-client ultrasound market studies. Since 1981, thirty major reports have been published, including three studies of the ultrasound contrast agent market. KBC's list of clients includes virtually every leading ultrasound equipment manufacturer in the world. These manufacturers account for an estimated 90% of the nearly $4 billion worldwide ultrasound equipment market.